I want to offer a quick congratulations to my friend Matt Malone, who put his money where his mouth is, as I knew he would.
As the attached press release will attest, Matt’s company, Groundworks, just awarded $31 million dollars in dividends to several thousand employees who spend their days in crawlspaces, trenches, and basements, doing a long list of dirty jobs that have saved many thousands of homes across the country from all sorts of calamity. https://bit.ly/4kLQa2I
I took an interest in this company a few years ago, when I learned that Matt had implemented a program that turned all of their workers into owners, giving the frontline workers a chance to participate in whatever success the company might enjoy. I also encouraged Matt to feature his actual employees in a completely unscripted, totally authentic advertising campaign – something no one in his industry has ever dared to do.
“What would that look like?” he asked. “A totally unscripted ad campaign?”
“Well,” I said, “if we do it right, it’ll look a lot like an episode of Dirty Jobs.”
That was three years ago. Since then, Groundworks has doubled in size, and their employees, (who are now owners), have kicked my ass with a level of vigor and enthusiasm that reminded me of the good old days. These guys are not only experts at what they do, they LOVE what they do, and I’ve enjoyed working alongside all of them.
Honestly, I hope more companies follow Groundworks example. It’s funny how so much of the traditional drama between labor and management fades away, when everyone owns a piece of the pie.
Congratulations, Ground Works! Keep it dirty!